All posts filed under: Farm Life

Living Our Dream

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Back from my hiatus and ready to go! You would think that during Covid I would have had lots of time to blog but not so much; had lots going on and the best part of it was finally buying our dream house or I should say dream farm. As the accidental farmgirl one would think that I lived on a farm but nope, we had a small lot with our goats and the minis lived at rented barn a few minutes from our house. I had to go to the barn twice a day, everyday to take care of them. It was rough board which means you rent the barn, that’s it. It is much cheaper that way and I enjoy doing the work and being with the babies. (Yup, I refer to all our animals that way.) I have always wanted a farm and had pretty much given up on it, but having to go take care of the minis everyday was beginning to get draining and I really wanted us all to …

Mini Donkey Care: Learn as I Go

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When I decided to adopt our farm animals I had only owned dogs, cats, rabbits, a bird…how hard could goats and minis be to take care of? I had volunteered for close to two years at the sanctuary taking care of them, I can do this! And I can and do, but boy  have I learned a lot. I am very fortunate to have a very understanding and extremely sweet veterinarian. The goats have been relatively easy, only a few issues, but Dominic has proven to be my high maintenance guy. He is very cautious as donkeys are; but he tends to be even more so as he was attacked by a bear. The first time I was that crazy first time donkey owner I discovered a huge swelling on his stomach, when I called the vet on a Friday evening at 5  o’clock they told me she was out of the country…double panic mode! They gave me the number for the on call vet at another practice, I called first thing Saturday morning and to …

My Conflicting Passions: Animals and Cooking

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In my twenties I was a vegetarian until I moved back in with my Mom and started dating my now husband. My Mom was a meat and potatoes kind of cook, John (my now husband) was and is a meat and potatoes kind of guy. I slowly made the transformation and forgot all about why I stopped eating meat. Fast forward about 14 years and when my husband and I decided to volunteer at a farm sanctuary, we both left there saying we would no longer eat meat and we didn’t. He went from loving a black and blue filet mignon to eating vegetables and lots of carbs (if you don’t know what black and blue means…basically raw). I stopped eating meat and most dairy products as well.     So here goes…I love to cook. I consider myself a foodie. My husband and I love to entertain and often have dinner parties. I love animals. After volunteering for over 2 years I ended adopting a total of 10 animals from the sanctuary: 3 rabbits, …

Hoof Care 101

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A very important part of horse and donkey care is their hooves. I knew this when I got them, but didn’t realize how difficult it can be with a mini-horse that’s not tame and a mini-donkey that doesn’t like vets since he was treated for his bear attack. Our vet recommended that she be there when the farrier came so she could sedate them. Easier said than done. Using some quite barbaric looking tools to get them to hold still while they were given the sedation shots was awful. Dominic, as strong as he is and as stubborn as he is, was quite the challenge but we got it done. I dreaded it after the first time and rightly so, the second time was no better. Thankfully our vet told us about a product that is gel that you put under their tongue to sedate them that she has used with great success. So I thought I’d give it try to for the third trimming. I was a bit nervous without her being there, but …

Bonnie and Clyde, Ducks not Gangsters.

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My husband named our ducks Bonnie and Clyde. Their namesake movie happens to be one of our favorites; Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were the perfect choice to play the notorious gangsters. And what is about these two that capture our imaginations and romanticize terrible criminals? For me, it is the fact that it was Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway who played them, two of the most beautiful people to ever set foot on the silver screen.   Our ducks are far from being criminals but they are beautiful. Now if you haven’t seen the movie, I’m about to give a little bit away but nothing crucial to the plot and besides, we all know how it ends. The one thing other than their names that my ducks and Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow have in common…Clyde is not interested in having sex with Bonnie. Yup, it’s true. Now when I got the ducks I’ll admit I didn’t know much about taking care of them. After doing lots of reading I realized that having one …

Not your Typical Farm…Girl

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Yes, we have 16 animals and no, we do not live on a farm. This is confusing to most people. We live in a town that has lots of farms and large pieces of property, but we have a small lot that happens to be in the part of town that is zoned for farms. The goats, ducks, rabbits, cats and dogs all live on our property; we rent a barn in town for the minis. What does this mean for me? Lots of work. People call me crazy. I call it a labor of love. Most farmers have a field and tractor to spread manure or they have dumpster that gets picked up and carted away. I have neither of these things. The goat manure, rabbit poo and duck poo all gets put into large muck buckets and empty bedding bags, then loaded into my pick-up truck, driven up the street to a friends field, where I empty the manure and spread it out. I do this once or twice a week, depending on …

The story of My Dominic the Mini-Donkey

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Dominic is my love. I love all of my animals, but there is just something about him that melts my heart whenever I see that sweet face. The first time I saw him was on one of my usual Saturday volunteer days, he was in a pen by himself and looked sad and confused. He had come to the sanctuary a few days before. Now many of the animals that come to the sanctuary have come from bad situations, this was not the case with Dominic. Dominic had been bought for a little girl when he was a baby to be her pet and to be a companion animal for a horse. The horse had recently passed and so Dominic was now alone. His owners had planned to keep him but then something horrible happened. Dominic was attacked by a bear in December 2015.   His owners realized he was missing and he was found in the neighbors empty in-ground pool with wounds to his neck and hind quarters. He was sedated to get him …

He always wanted Ducks.

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My husband loves ducks. Ever since I’ve known him he said that one day he would love to have ducks. He does not like chickens, except to eat. So, one day back in April a few days before our 15th wedding anniversary I had gone to Tractor Supply to get a few things for the goats and came home with 2 baby ducklings. Yup, I was suckered in by all those cute ducklings. I ended up with Khaki Campbells, had no idea what to expect. I bought everything they told me to; heat lamp, feeder, waterer, feed, special pro-biotics to help them grow up and be healthy. They peep when they are babies and they peeped all the way home, I felt terrible that they were in that little box with holes, probably scared to death. They were 4 days old and cute as can be. Now at that young of an age it is almost impossible to tell the sex. I was told they were most likely female but no guarantees. All of them …

Home at Last

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Getting ready for the big day was a lot of work and expensive…think long and hard before you decide to bring home any type of farm animal. Luckily I knew what I was getting into, volunteering at The Barnyard Sanctuary prepared me for the work involved and the expenses. First I had to order a shed and luckily my husband is super handy and built the beautiful base. Next came the fencing, it must be goat proof or they’ll be running through your neighborhood! I read everything I possibly could about raising goats to prepare for their arrival. My first trip to Tractor Supply was almost better than going shopping at my favorite mall. I bought all the essentials: thermometer, water buckets, hoof trimmers, minerals and of course treats! The day we went to bring them home was one of the best days of my life. I was so excited and happy and not one bit nervous. We brought them home in the back of our Jeep. We put down plastic and sheet and I …

2 Baby Goats got my Goat!

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That’s right, two little baby goat cull boys stole my heart the second I laid eyes on them. If you read About me then you know I volunteer at a farm sanctuary. The sanctuary had rescued 10 baby goat cull boys that were being fostered and bottle fed until they were old enough to come to the sanctuary to be adopted out. Now you ask what is a “cull” boy? The dairy industry is a cruel world. Females are impregnated again and again because without having babies they will not produce milk. So once the babies are born they are taken away from their mothers. The females are bottle fed only to grow up to lead the same sad life as their mothers. The male babies are taken away from their mothers, all put together and within a day or so after being born are shipped off to slaughter. Yes, to slaughter. This is true for cows, sheep and goats. Now back to the good part. A fellow sanctuary worker had posted on Facebook a video …